27 Nodes (Bechloe)
by MightyTacos
Summary: After the Barden Bellas lose in the ICCAs, the group disbands but Beca and Chloe keep in close contact. When Chloe decides to remove her nodes over spring break, Beca volunteers to take her. Throughout the process of a rather troubling surgery in the a capella world, the two realize what they've been missing over the course of a year. Bechloe fluff. Placed during PP1.


"Whoa, whoa. Just stop. Stop." A boy shouted over the sounds of female a capella on the front steps of his fraternity house. He had a beer in one hand and a thoroughly pissed off crowd behind his back.

"I am so sorry, Howie. I know we're not performance ready." Chloe spoke up, profusely apologizing for the state of her Barden Bellas. Last year ended with a disastrous display of Aubrey barfing on stage of their collegiate competition and the girls left without a trophy. This year they had initiated an entire squadron of new girls, and only Aubrey and Chloe were the lasting seniors to lead the club.

"I wanted the hot Bellas, not this barnyard explosion. I'm not paying for this." Howie spat out, ushering them to leave his property so he could continue the resemblance of a Saturday lawn party.

"Let's go. Come on. God." The girls hurried off the steps of Sigma Βeta Theta, briskly walking down the sidewalk of the street.

"Well, I hope you all remember the way you feel right now, so you will never wanna feel this way again." Aubrey abruptly turned around, scolding the group of newbies. "Chloe, your voice didn't sound Aguilerian at all."

"How are we gonna pay for Regionals?" Beca interrupted Aubrey's blame game, knowing that their small gig performances were their only way to slowly raise money to pay for transportation costs.

Aubrey paused, racking her brain for any of the fundraising ideas she found on Pinterest. "Well a 'Bikini Car Wash' is out of the question."

"I'll give up my body for a good cause." Fat Amy announced, rubbing her palms in circles over her hips and torso.

"Think, Aubrey, think." Aubrey whispered to herself before suggesting: "Maybe we could start a singing telegram business. Thoughts, Chloe?" She went to look at her redheaded best friend for any sort of ecstatic agreement, but found that she was barely even paying attention to the conversation. "Chloe, for serious, what is wrong with you?" Aubrey barked, annoyed that her fellow co-captain wasn't taking the matter of their failure seriously.

"I have nodes." Chloe blurted out, furrowing her brows while averting her eyes to stare at her shoes.

"What? Oh, my God."

"I found out this morning."

"What are nodes?" Beca seemed to be the only clueless one, when everyone else was humming with sympathy.

"Vocal nodules. The rubbing together of your vocal cords at above-average rates without proper lubrication." Aubrey defined matter-of-factly.

"They sit on your windpipe and they crush your dreams." Chloe stated, defeat clinging onto the stale air around the girls.

Beca blinked before asking, "Isn't that painful? Why would you keep performing?"

"Because I love to sing." The redhead and the brunette made eye contact briefly, with Beca genuinely confused at how Chloe had that much tenacity for something that seemed so meaningless to Beca.

"Yeah, it's like when my lady doctor told me not to have sex for six weeks, and I did it anyway." Stacie added, trying her best to make the girls feel better with another sex life reference.

"You should really listen to your doctor." Fat Amy side-glanced Stacie, wondering why Americans had such a thing for purposely not listening to their doctors.

"The key is early diagnosis. I am living with nodes. But I am a survivor. I just have to pull back." Chloe broke into small sentences, trying to convince herself more than the girls in front of her about the future of her participation in the Bellas. "Because I am limited. Because I have nodes."

"Chloe, this is horrible."

"Well, at least it's not herpes. Or do you have that as well?" The group glared at Fat Amy, who only shrugged at the negative attention she was receiving.

Beca kept eyeing the redhead every so often, wondering what the downfall of one of their top singers could mean for the girls. They looked up to Chloe. She was their fiercest leader and the only one that could actually take criticism and advice, unlike Aubrey. Chloe was easier to identify with, since she didn't strive for perfection and faulted when it came to human weakness. She was kind and compassionate, and just wanted everyone to succeed and be supported. What would happen if she couldn't sing?

As the Barden Bellas continued to perform in small battles, Beca found that Chloe continually pushed the state of her vocal cords. She noticed at the riff-off in the abandoned pool that Chloe still pioneered the group, helping kick-start songs and teaching the new girls how the rules went. No one questioned that Chloe was still singing, and only Beca really noticed that Chloe would hold back when someone else commanded a note just out of range. Every now and then, Chloe would head to the back of the group while the other girls kept singing, and Beca would upturn her head in concern for Chloe, who would only smile in silent reply.

Chloe's nodes really only became a problem when the Bellas were rehearsing several days later, singing "Turn the Beat Around," much to Aubrey's insistence.

"TURN IT AROUND! TURN IT AROUND!" All the girls mused together, with Chloe ending the final "TURN IT AROUND" while missing the high note. Aubrey winced at their final pose.

"I should have taken that cardio tip more seriously." Fat Amy exhales heavily, hunched over with her hands on her knees.

"How much have you done?" Aubrey asked, questioning if any of the new girls had been following the workout schedule she so meticulously designed.

"You just saw it."

Aubrey shook her head, addressing the group with: "Ladies, that was better but we have a long ways to go before Regionals. Chloe, you have to be able to hit that last note."

"I can't. It's impossible. Because of..." Chloe finishes with: "my nodes" just as the rest of the group finishes the same answer for her.

"Well if you can't, then someone else needs to step up and solo." Aubrey stated flatly, examining the room for a likely candidate.

"I think Beca should sing it." Lilly whispered.

Chloe was the only one who managed to hear her, and she quickly chimed in with, "Me too."

"You too, what?"

"Beca should take my solo."

"Beca could nail that shit!" Fat Amy shouted, accent flaring at the word "shit." Everyone else but Aubrey hums in agreement.

"She'd never want to." Aubrey decided for Beca.

"Oh, I'll solo. On one condition. We pick a new song and I get to do the arrangement." Beca contradicted the blonde's assumption, stepping forward to meet her gaze. Since this was a direct challenge to Aubrey, the girls shifted around uneasily.

"That's not how we do things here." Aubrey glared at the brunette who stood in front of her.

"Aubrey, maybe Beca's right. Maybe we should try something new." Chloe liked some of the ideas Beca had tried to propose before. Maybe she was on to something to help the Bellas get back on top.

Aubrey glared at Chloe before directing to Beca, "You will be singing, 'Turn the Beat

Around,' and that's the last I want to hear of this."

Beca tried again: "That song's tired. We won't win with that song. Look, if we pulled samples from different genres-"

Aubrey quickly interrupted. "Let me explain this to you because you still don't seem to understand. Our goal is to get back to the finals. These songs will get us there. So excuse me if I don't take advice from some alt girl with her Mad Lib beats when she's never even been in a competition. Have I made myself clear?"

After awkward silence Beca answered, "Crystal. I guess I won't solo."

"Fine. Fat Amy?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You'll solo." Aubrey decided, prompting Fat Amy to fist pump in the air with newfound energy she otherwise burned off in the cardio.

From there on out, that was the last Beca would try to fix the overly traditional mess of the a cappella group she claimed she was a part of. She instead just went back in place, put that stupid yellow bandana around her neck, and played nice. She had every intention to quit altogether and count down the rest of the days in her freshman year at Barden. But at this point, Beca honestly didn't want to disappoint Chloe, who seemed to be the only one rooting for her. Her dad didn't believe in her music dreams, and more or less forced Beca to go to school, even for just a year. Besides scolding her for grades, her dad didn't do much else to check in on Beca. Chloe was the only one who truly cared about her wellbeing, from sending her positive texts throughout the week or reminding her to go to her 8ams. The rest of the girls were more second-hand, but Beca still appreciated the company from them. Beca figured it was best to just lay low and participate, and maybe at the end she'd win a title, or something.

Beca's wishful thinking only worked up until the Bellas lost in the ICCA, and the group had to go home with their tails between their legs. When Beca noticed the audience for the competition was completely bored of the Bellas' rendition of the predictable song, "The Sign," she chimed in with a harmony of, "Bulletproof." Her mixing ideas and ad-lib addition to spice up their performance only got them so far, and they placed outside the rankings to advance to the next stage in the competition. The girls didn't say much about it afterward, and Beca knew that after spring break that it would be hard to reconnect with the girls when they all seemed pissed about her spontaneous stunt. Beca's spur of the moment idea was the only thing that kept the audience from falling asleep, and no one really realized this but her. The arguments that sparked with everyone after that performance, including Jesse, meant she was going to have a lonely spring break.

Once she found herself back in her dorm room alone after the competition, she felt a longing obligation to send an apology text. To someone. To anyone. She took out her phone, swiping to the messaging app and drafting a text without addressing it to any particular contact.

"Hey. I kinda felt the need-" She started typing out, deleing and adding words as she went. She ending up starting over, typing as a stream of consciousness bid of draft flowed out of her fingertips. "Hey. I know I'm not the only reason we lost, but I'm really sorry for going off and doing my own thing on stage. It wasn't cool. And I'm new to this whole thing and I really should have just listened to you guys. It was selfish." Beca looked at the wall before adding, "And it was wrong of me to say you don't have a say in this group. You have plenty of one, and you're the only thing that actually keeps us all together."

Beca looked at the message for a few seconds, before adding the contact "Chloe Beale" to the address line and sending it. After rereading the text now outlined in blue, she quickly added, "You're the only thing that kept me in the Bellas." _Fuck. Did I really just send that? Beca what the fuck are you doing. You can't just say that kind of stuff to people._ She flopped onto her bed, face first into a pillow. How much could she royally fuck up within one time period? People should start taking bets.

A quiet chime interrupted her thoughts, and a text notification lit up Beca's phone screen. She saw an unopened message from Chloe, and quickly swiped to read it.

"Thank you. Really, thank you for that." It sounded almost sarcastic, but Beca knew that Chloe was being sincere. "The Bellas aren't the same without you. I'm glad we got something new this year. Even if we lost."

"Are you like, mad at me? Believe me, you have every right to be and I totally get it." Beca sent back, cringing at her own awkward and almost selfish reply.

"No. I know you were cornered and defensive and just wanted to help out the group. We all kind of blamed you for the loss, and Aubrey was a little headstrong and upset about it. If anything, I should be apologizing."

"There's no need for that, Chloe." Beca felt weird saying Chloe's name over text. Little did she know, the sight of her own name actually made Chloe blush, especially at the fact that Beca was the one who typed it.

As the two bantered back and forth about their loss, they started texting more and more since the Bellas were disbanded for the semester. It began with mainly talking about music, and possible ideas for next year. Beca figured she was permanently out of the group, but she still fed Chloe ideas so she could pass them on. The conversations eventually morphed into things that happened to them across the day, usually with Chloe sending pictures of pugs that she'd find during walks downtown. Beca liked to send over mixes, and Chloe seemed to enthusiastically approve of every single one of them. Their contact only strengthened as spring break approached, and it soon became custom to be texting each other almost the entire day. At the start of the spring break, the girls realized that they were both staying in Atlanta for the week. On Monday, Beca received a text that seemed to level up her friendship with the older Bella.

"Last month I decided to make an appointment to remove my nodes. Do you think you could go with me?"

"Are you sure you want them removed? Does that cause anything permanent?" Beca shot back, concerned that the redhead may lose something she held so dearly to her heart.

"Well, since we aren't advancing to finals, I can heal over the summer and stuff. I know all the risks, and I talked about them with my doctor beforehand. It's just a big thing, and I don't really have any family in this part of the country to really just, be there with me." The text emanated a potential fear, a tone Beca had not heard from Chloe previously.

She wondered why Chloe didn't ask Aubrey to take her, since the other co-captain was practically a lifelong friend. She assumed it came down to what happened at the ICCAs, and responded without a second thought: "When is it?"

"Wednesday, at 9:00." Chloe knew the early appointment may turn off Beca from wanting to come, but she was hopeful that she would say yes anyway.

"Yes, of course," was what Beca sent back, causing Chloe to beam at the text on her phone screen.

Although their conversations moved away from her nodes for the next few days, Wednesday still came around and Beca was already knocking on the front door of the Barden Bella house. Chloe answered the door with a small smile before flinging herself at Beca for hug, and Beca only tentatively reciprocated with a light touch on Chloe's lower back.

"I'm so glad you decided to come with me." Chloe said quietly, looking at the steel-blue eyes of the girl who stood in her doorway. Beca flashed a small smile in reply, stepping inside the house and closing the door.

Beca opted to drive Chloe to her appointment so they could avoid taking public transportation while Chloe is coming off of post-surgery grogginess. Beca emitted a loud chuckle once Chloe handed her the car keys, realizing that the redhead drove the exact type of car she figured Chloe would drive – an older "mom" type sudan. Once they left the house and Beca saw the car, the fact that it was a 2002 model Corolla in beige only made Beca grin even harder. Chloe didn't understand the humor, but still nudged Beca in the ribs for laughing at her anyway.

Chloe's appointment was in a specialty ENT wing of a hospital inbound towards Atlanta. Although they caught a bit of the early morning traffic, they made it to her appointment 15 minutes early. As Chloe was filling out paperwork in the waiting room, she realized Beca would have to wait with nothing but old magazines while Chloe was in her operation.

"I wish I brought you some things to do. Or that you could at least watch them do the surgery." Chloe spoke, signing her name at the bottom of one of the pre-operation documents.

"I don't want to see them cut into your throat, no thanks. Not that hot on blood." The usually fearless brunette replied, admitting a subtle weakness to her cold exterior. Chloe only raised one eyebrow in reply, flipping to the next document.

"There's a phone charger in my purse for you." The redhead only said, pointing to a wine colored bag sitting on the floor. Beca rummaged out a bedazzled iPhone charger, exhaling sharply before plugging it into the outlet in the wall behind her.

Chloe went to return her paperwork, and a short 10 minutes passed before the OR was ready and she was called to leave the waiting room.

"Be safe, okay?" Beca piped up, almost pleading.

"I aca-promise." Chloe smiled, following a man towards a back corridor filled with more rooms.

As Chloe disappeared, Beca realized she never asked how long the surgery was actually going to take. She found herself googling, "surgery to remove vocal cord nodes," along with other related searches to see what exactly was happening to her newfound best friend under the knife. She quickly learned that the operation was actually called a "laryngoscopy," and that surgeons actually didn't need to cut through her skin. Not that it mattered, exactly, but Beca felt a bit safer knowing that the surgical team only had to go through her mouth. She later ended up looking at videos, instructions, and articles. She browsed the side effects and risks of every new page she read, finding that breathing difficulties and infection were a reoccurring theme. The timeline of post-surgery alone meant that Chloe wasn't allowed to talk for an entire week. She couldn't get close to singing for another five.

Overwhelmed with information, Beca had to lock the screen on her phone and just blankly watch the TV in the waiting room. She never really got a verified timeframe for the procedure, so she only asked that the receptionist inform her when Chloe was ready for a visit.

After what seemed like a millennium watching E! News, the receptionist loudly called for Beca across the faded red chairs that filled the room. She handed Beca a sticker with Chloe's room number on it in sharpie, and Beca slapped it on her shirt before speeding across the double doors and down the hallway filled with post-recovery rooms. Beca frantically looked left and right for the number "27" in an attempt to find the familiar face of her friend. After finding the door, she barged in, seeing the redhead contrasted against the white sheets of the hospital bed.

Chloe was still sleeping, causing Beca to mutter a curse word when she realized she came into the room rather loudly. She made up for it by closing the door softly and picking a chair next to Chloe's bed. It was already approaching the afternoon, and Beca didn't have enough coffee to sustain herself in the rather uncomfortable chairs of the hospital. She had already checked through most of her rather short social media feed, and by this point seemed rather uninterested in her phone now that she was back in the same room as Chloe. So instead, she only watched the steady rise and fall of the sleeping beauty's chest, moving in tandem to the noises that rang from her vitals monitor. _ECG 80bpm. NIBP 117/67. SpO2 100. RR 19._

 _Is it weird to want to make a mix out of a hospital monitor? Ugh, why the fuck would you think that_. Beca continued to scold herself mentally, concentrating back on her friend steadily resting in front of her. After a few moments of blankly staring at the hospital bed, Beca's own vitals slowed, drifting to sleep as she rested the back of her head on the off-white wall behind her chair.

A steady hour passed and the two girls slept soundly, no nurses or loud noises to disturb them. Chloe eventually woke up, since she had been sleeping for several hours after her surgery. She quickly scanned the room, surprised to find Beca passed out in the chair next to her. Once seeing the brunette was deep in sleep, Chloe broke out into a smile as her expression softened in adoration. She knew that she could crack the small alt-girl, win her over with that classic Chloe charm. Chloe knew that Beca thought she was annoying at first, but Chloe's efforts seemed to work out because here she was asleep after Chloe had to undergo a difficult day in the a capella world. Beca's normal resting bitch face was retired, as her closed eyelids and relaxed cheeks conveyed a closer sense of comfort and security.

She had come to love the company of Beca, and used their vastly growing text relationship to keep the rest of her semester going once the Bellas were eliminated. Every now and then, she'd get a rather personal text from Beca that caused Chloe to question the true meaning behind the wording, and Chloe would only send back a sort of flirty text in reply. It usually elicited a stammered and quick response back from Beca, who didn't always proofread out spelling mistakes or awkwardness. No matter how much Chloe enjoyed embarrassing her, Beca always replied, never leaving her side.

The sound of Chloe's cell phone buzzing on the tray table in front of her caused her to shift her attention as she went to pick it up in a hurry to avoid waking up Beca. On the screen she scanned a text from Aubrey. "We're back, pitches! The Footnotes were disqualified. Let's get that title!" Chloe's vitals monitor started to beat frantically, as her heart rate skyrocketed. The rapid noises startled Beca to awaken, and she met Chloe's eyes with a panicked expression.

Chloe cocked her head, tears slowly beginning to well up at the corner of her eyes. She forced a smile to ensure Beca not to worry, and that they were just tears of happiness. Chloe screenshot the text and sent it to Beca, who blinked at her phone repeatedly before meeting Chloe's gaze again. Chloe sent a follow-up text that said, "That includes you, silly!"

Beca waited a beat before spilling tears, emitting a weird state of raw emotion she had never let herself reach. She choked out a noise, causing Chloe to wave her towards her. The two met with an embrace, and Beca clutched Chloe with a tight hold. They both sniffled softly into each other's ears, with Chloe trying to dampen the noises against her vocal cords. Beca pulled back from Chloe's shoulder, meeting her cerulean eyes with her own. She made a few glances to from her lips and back to her eyes, ignoring the reciprocating gaze Chloe was giving her. Beca knew this opportunity meant everything to Chloe, since the Bellas were her family and she could compete again before her senior year ended. Beca just knew that Chloe meant everything to her.

Before Chloe attempted to talk, Beca captured her face in her hands, closing the gap between their faces and softly planting her lips onto Chloe's. An almost sweet taste mixed with the salty tears that rolled down their cheeks, and Chloe tilted her head to deepen the kiss as she placed a hand onto Beca's forearm. After a few moments, Beca let out an anxious breath from her nose and pulled back to glance at Chloe one more time. The temporarily mute redhead replied with her usual reassurance for Beca under times of uncertainty - a kind yet small smile. As the two stared at each other with growing fondness, Chloe initiated a second kiss that was more seamless yet more purposeful than the first. And somehow, under the harsh fluorescent bulbs of the ceiling lights, life for the two of them finally seemed to make sense.


End file.
